The men’s lacrosse team opened its 2025 campaign Monday night by traveling to Lafayette, ultimately losing 16-9. Despite a tightly competitive pace for most of the match, the Bearcats struggled on defense during the fourth quarter, ultimately leading to their first defeat of the year.

“I thought our guys battled hard and played with good energy,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We started winning more faceoffs in the third, but in the fourth, we couldn’t get a defensive stop. We didn’t win faceoffs, and things snowballed from there.”

The Bearcats (0-1) got on the board early to open up the match. In his first game since earning America East All-Rookie honors in 2024, sophomore attack Andrew Girolamo put Binghamton up 1-0 with an unassisted strike from the far side at the 11:56 mark. Lafayette (2-0), however, quickly responded with a goal of its own. Midway through the quarter, senior attack Dan Garone connected with graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris, who fired in his first goal of the season to put BU back ahead 2-1. The teams ultimately closed out the first quarter tied at three.

“[Girolamo and Ferris] work well together,” McKeown said. “Girolamo being a lefty and Ferris being a righty helps balance the field. They can both stretch the field with their shots. I thought they both played well tonight and will certainly be guys we count on moving forward.”

Lafayette shut out Binghamton in the second quarter after scoring twice in the first five minutes to take a 5-3 lead over the visitors. The Bearcats repeatedly attacked the Leopards’ net — the visitors fired off seven shot attempts throughout the quarter, but none found the back of the net.

“Credit to [Lafayette],” McKeown said. “They regained momentum at the faceoff. We had some momentum in the third, but they won a few draws and scored off transition. We didn’t get stops and didn’t have the ball much in the fourth.”

After winning the initial third-quarter faceoff, senior defender Lorenzo Ramos rattled off a shot for the Bearcats, but it was Lafayette who struck first to build a three-goal lead. The foes continued to trade goals, and a dime from sophomore midfielder Brady Sharkey to Ferris opened up a two-goal sequence that shrunk BU’s deficit to two. In the final four minutes of play, goals from junior midfielder Colin Delay and Garone tied the match up at seven. The Bearcats’ chance at retaking the lead slipped away, however, when the Leopards won the ensuing faceoff and punched it in to go up 8-to-7.

“[Sharkey] is a great lacrosse player,” McKeown said. “He plays a lot on the wings for us, has a really good I.Q. and understands the game well. Not a surprise there. He’s a guy we’ll lean on in the middle of the field to help us gain more possessions.”

At the beginning of the fourth period, the Bearcats once again got on the board, with sophomore attack Drew Filanowski firing his first collegiate goal in his first start to tie the game at eight. Just under two minutes later, Ferris found Girolamo, who fired a shot to secure his hat trick and give the Bearcats a 9-8 lead with 10:14 left in the quarter. That would be the last time Binghamton would find the back of the net, as they went on to give up eight goals in a fourth-quarter collapse, falling to the Leopards 16-9.

“We need to clear the ball better to support both our defense and offense,” McKeown said. “We also need to be more efficient in transition. We had a couple of good transition opportunities tonight that we didn’t capitalize on. Overall, we just need to be better in the middle of the field.”

Binghamton will look to get in the win column as they head to St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Feb. 15. Faceoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Tom 80’ and Michelle Marra Athletics Field Complex in St. Bonaventure, New York.